Football Bet of the Day: Back goals between Brazilian pair

Two sides that started the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season slowly but have started to pick up form in recent weeks - Cuiaba and Atletico Goianiense - meet at Arena Pantanal on Saturday (KO, 22:30).

The contest in Cuiaba features in my football bet of the day for Saturday, June 22, with goals expected between the pair.

Cuiaba's Serie A season started dismally as they lost their first five games without scoring a goal. Dourado also blanked in their sixth league game but did secure a first point of the campaign in the process as they played out a goalless draw with newly-promoted Vitoria on June 6, and three days later, they followed that up with their first victory, beating Criciuma - also recently promoted from Serie B - 5-2 away from home.

Petit's side weren't able to make it three unbeaten when they lost 2-1 at Cruzeiro, but they were back at it on June 16 as they hit another team for five, this time without reply as they thrashed Fortaleza at Arena Pantanal, and in the early hours of Thursday morning, they won 1-0 at Sao Paulo.

Atletico GO, meanwhile, began life back in the top flight with three consecutive defeats, a 1-0 reversal at Botagofo RJ sandwiched between home defeats to Flamengo (1-2) and Sao Paulo (0-3).

A first point of the campaign was finally claimed on April 29 as they held Internacional to a 1-1 draw in Porto Alegre, but back in Goiania on May 12, they were beaten 1-0 by Cruzeiro.

A two-week suspension due to massive floods in the country's south seemed to do the world of good for Atletico GO, who resumed action with a 2-0 win at Vitoria on June 1, though they were beaten 1-0 at Juventude four days later.

However, their next two games saw them record a total of four points against a couple of the G-12 (Big Twelve) members, Corinthians and Fluminense, drawing 2-2 at home to the former and winning 2-1 away at the reigning Copa Libertadores champions, though they did fall to defeat at home to Criciuma (1-2) in midweek, despite leading for nearly 50 minutes.

Atletico GO have now scored in four of their last five league games and seven of their last nine across all competitions, while Cuiaba have struck in their last four Serie A matches and nine of their last 11 including the Copa do Brasil and Copa Sudamericana.

Saturday's clash in Cuiaba marks the first meeting between the pair since August 2022 when they played out a 1-1 draw in Goiana, matching the reverse fixture at Arena Pantanal less than four months earlier. In fact, three of the last four head-to-heads have finished a goal apiece, and five of the nine in history.

Six of those nine games have seen both teams score, but it's only evens that it occurs for a seventh time on Saturday. That's probably due to the fact that both sides feature fairly low down in the BTTS table this season, with just two of Cuiaba's 10 matches seeing both teams score, and five of Atletico GO's 10.

But the recent efforts of both sides in front of goal does give me confidence that there will be goals this weekend. The hosts have struck five times in two of their last four, and their front three of Jonathan Cafu, Isidro Pitta and Clayson all scored in the most recent of those thrashings, a 5-0 victory over Fortaleza.

Meanwhile, Atletico GO stuck two past each of Corinthians and Fluminense, with BTTS - Yes landing in both games.

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